


hunting for pearls

by doxian



Category: Original Work
Genre: Cloaca, Developing Relationship, Diplomacy, Fantasy, First Time, Fish People, Gift Exchange, Interspecies Relationship(s), M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Non-Human Humanoid Society, Porn With Plot, Royalty, Xeno, egg laying (briefly)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-04 16:25:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14024097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doxian/pseuds/doxian
Summary: "Javi... You don't have to do this if you don't want to."It sounds as though it's painful for Prince Telitheu to speak. Javi can feel his gaze roving over his now naked chest, hungry, even as he gives Javi an out."I can see that you're desperate, even when you're so graciously offering to send me away," Javi points out. "You asked for me. You want me."--An attendant sees to his prince.





	hunting for pearls

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GloriousGoblinQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GloriousGoblinQueen/gifts).



Javi had heard stories about the summer palace ever since he was a child. They always went something like this: the vast, columned manor is formed of nothing but pure, solid marble and gold, someone's aunt would say. The building is so overflowing with riches that jewels and coin lie loose along the opulent hallways, piled to teetering heights, a neighbor would add. When Javi left home for the raucous seaside town of Nerivah to seek his fortune, the stories followed him, though they shifted in form somewhat. If the palace was a fanciful fairy tale at home, it was a puzzle, a conundrum, in Nerivah. A right of passage for the young thieves that Javi fell in with. His friends' vision of the palace was more realistic, but treasure still featured at the forefront, and he could hardly boast any credibility as a thief if he didn’t come up with his own convoluted master plan of how he'd scale the castle's defences, hoodwink the guards, if given the chance.

"Human! Look alive, we're almost there."

Javi blinks, clinging harder to the back of the carrier fish he'd been riding all the way from the Mireni archipelago back to the mainland's coast, strapped in with his travel companions' supplies like cargo. 

"Hey, Adolfo," he calls out to the fish man who'd addressed him. Once the courtier has turned around and Javi is assured that he's paying attention, he continues: "Don't talk to the royal family that way once we arrive. Just a friendly word of advice from the court’s expert on humans." 

Adolfo harrumphs, the gills under his jaw flaring wide. "If you think I'd speak to a member of a royal house that way, you're quite mistaken," he shoots back, flicking a fin and surging forwards out of earshot in one smooth motion. 

Whenever Javi had imagined seeing the king and queen's summer palace, he'd never pictured it quite like this. 

—

They arrive just after sundown and just in time for Javi's irritation to reach its peak. He'd wanted to take his boat back to the mainland, depart the same way he'd arrived, but the fish people — the Meyluzeen, he should probably get into the habit of calling them — had requested that he travel with them. Something about arriving together, presenting a united front. Javi was of the opinion that they just wanted to keep an eye on him. Whatever the reason, Javi had dutifully swallowed the magical draught they'd given him, the potion that allowed him to exist underwater without drowning, and had journeyed together with the rest of the school. Granted, the trip had been much quicker compared to what it would’ve been had he sailed here on his own, he acknowledges reluctantly. But he still would've preferred to do things his way.

His other source of frustration is that he hadn't spoken a single word to Prince Telitheu throughout the entire journey. The prince, from what Javi could see, had been fully monopolized by various members of his court, who were surely eager to bring up their respective insipid concerns while they swam. On top of that, Javi had been unceremoniously relegated to the back of the line with the rest of the pack creatures, while the prince — of course — assumed pride of place at its head. Even if there had been a break in the seemingly endless stream of courtiers, Javi would have been too far away to take advantage of it. And as skilled a swimmer as he is, the Meyluzeen are much stronger, much swifter. If Javi had tried to catch up on his own, he would've been very quickly left behind to sink in the middle of the ocean, most likely.

It's not as if he even had anything in particular he wanted to discuss. It's just that Prince Telitheu is the only member of the Meyluzeen court that Javi can stand, more or less. And the only person who Javi is concerned with. The rest of them are only present as escorts, as sources of aid. In the end, this visit comes down to the prince. The prince will be the one to lead the negotiations, make the decisions, and give a voice to the wants of the Meyluzeen people. By now, Javi has said and done all he can to help — he's more familiar with Meyluzeen court protocol than his own people's at this point, being born as far from aristocracy as possible — but that doesn't mean he hadn’t wanted to exchange a few words with the prince for his own reassurance. Prince Telitheu might be squarely into middle age in human years, but from a Meyluzeen perspective he's still young. Smart, charismatic, but young. Even Javi has noticed how he relies on the rest of the court's advice to compensate for his inexperience, how naive he can sometimes be. Gods, it was naive of him to even decide to take Javi on as an advisor. Javi, who had then been a snake eager to take what he wanted from the Mireni islands before immediately turning tail, never to return. 

They're greeted at the beach by what Javi assumes is a retinue of servants. He has to force himself to stifle a laugh at the way they openly gape at the group before remembering themselves and dipping into deep bows. 

One of the servants, who Javi guesses is the head, steps forwards to welcome them. Javi tunes her out in favor of continuing to regard the rest of the servants with thinly veiled amusement. They're still wide-eyed and nervous. Javi doesn't blame them. He would've reacted the same had he been in their position. 

He subtly casts his eye over the twenty or so people in their group. He may have spent these past few months with the Meyluzeen, but he can still recall his first meeting with them. He remembers what the multitude of fins, claws, and teeth looked like to him back then. A couple of the servants are eyeing Adolfo's whiskers that curve away from his jowls in grand, sharp arcs. Another looks with trepidation at Vizier Malia's narrow-eyed, stony expression. If Javi himself didn't know better, he'd say they looked more like a horde of sea monsters about to descend upon the castle and attack than members of a diplomatic mission. 

He's attracting a few stares, too. It's understandable, he supposes. They're probably wondering what a human is doing traveling with companions like these. His attire doesn't help. He's hung about with gold — it pins back the messy shag of his black hair, sits sensuously over his collarbones and shoulders, clinks at his wrists together with handfuls of turquoise and milk white stones. (Easily the most value he's ever worn at once, or even had his hands on, he's keenly aware of.) Aside from that, he isn't wearing anything except for a pair of diaphanous, deep red trousers. Just like he had with the travel arrangements, he had declined the clothes at first, wanting to stick with his own, but had relented as soon as he saw Prince Telitheu's mouth settle into a disapproving line. Those clothes were all well and good for roving the islands, he'd said, but Javi could hardly present himself with the rest of the court like that. Besides, he'd added, he'd picked the colors out personally. They could match! 

Javi has to swallow another amused snort at the memory. 

All at once, the servants stop peering at the group and focus their attention on a single figure in front of them. 

The prince is speaking. 

Prince Telitheu does not address an audience with any measure of gravitas. He does, however, possess a sort of magnetic confidence that makes it impossible for anyone not to stop what they’re doing to listen. Javi had seen this in effect in the Meyluzeen court often enough. The prince has as much impact on humans, if the servants' reactions are anything to go by — standing up straighter than they were already, training their eyes on him as if they couldn't look away even if they wanted to. 

He has _more_ of an impact in human company, it seems. He might not be particularly large for a Meyluzeen, but he towers easily over the tallest man among the humans' party, long and looming, the spotted and spined fins springing from the small of his back making him look even bigger. They don't fan out, peacock-like, like they do in water, but even on land the likeness is clear. Lionfish. Dangerous. Not everyone Javi has met has an appearance that he can easily match to a fish species, but he'd been able to place Prince Telitheu instantaneously. 

Javi leans back lazily, resting his weight on one foot and crossing his arms, and watches their welcoming committee watch his prince. 

"--this is not only about cooperation or a mutually beneficial relationship, oh no. This alliance will lead us into a new era where we stand side by side, united against the dangers of this world, Meyluzeen and human alike!" 

The palace servants are hardly who he needs to convince to come round to his mite too idealistic — in Javi's opinion, anyway — proposal, but Javi can't find it within himself to be annoyed about being held up from getting food, rest, and shelter due to this unnecessary speech. Not when the prince's eyes are shining with sincerity, passionate and luminous. 

—

They don't make it through the first evening without running into a crisis.

Everything goes well at first. They're shown to their chambers — a collection of guesthouses off of the palace proper that sit flush against the coast. It's a point of consideration from the royal family, to provide such accommodations. The Meyluzeen might be amphibious, but they favor the water more often than not. Javi has seen first hand how their scales can lose their healthy lustre after being on land for too long. While the royal family would, of course, not have any underwater lodgings to offer, this allows for the easiest access to the ocean, at least. 

Javi is looking forward to a rest after the long journey, maybe even squeezing in some sleep, but he barely has any time to wash the saltwater off of himself before they're summoned to dinner. 

They're escorted by yet another assemblage of servants to the palace. Javi hadn't been able to see it from the guesthouses, but it comes into view behind an outcropping as they ascend the hill. It nearly takes Javi's breath away. The stories don't do it justice. Splendid and expansive, it glows in the twilight like an opalescent shell on the beach, albeit an inordinately massive one.

There's a low buzzing of voices among the courtiers while they walk, but as soon as they approach the palace gates everyone descends into silence. They've worked to arrange this meeting for as long as Javi had been living with them — earlier, even — and tonight all their preparations will have come to fruition. It hadn't felt real to Javi until this moment. 

Javi casts a sidelong glance at the prince. He looks composed enough, gazing straight ahead with a determined set to his fins. Javi wonders if he feels similar to how Javi does right now. 

—

They dine with Princess Coralie and her household. 

Javi had known that this would be the arrangement from when the royal family had accepted the Meyluzeen's request to talk, but a part of him had still hoped to see the rulers of their nation with his own eyes for the first and only time in his life. He'd been a little affronted on Prince Telitheu's behalf, initially, even though the prince himself had taken up the invitation readily enough. 

Prince and princess. They make a fine sight sitting together at the head of the table, Javi thinks. Then a sumptuous bowl of soup is placed in front of him, emitting a truly delicious scent, and for a while he's fully occupied with scooping it into his mouth followed by hearty bites of bread. 

Once his stomach is no longer clamoring for sustenance, he looks around. Servants and guards are standing at attention around the room, but there are probably more Meyluzeen sitting at the table than humans, some of the bulkier of their number perching awkwardly on the ornate chairs and trying not to crush the dainty silverware in their hands. Javi winces a little at how crudely most of them are handling the cutlery. Eating in the Mireni archipelago is a bit of a frenzied affair — usually involving stripping a kill to the bone as rapidly as possible — and while Javi had thought he'd done a decent enough job explaining human dining habits, he perhaps had not explained its etiquette as thoroughly as he could have. Again, though, they could hardly expect that from someone of Javi's breeding. He barely knows what to do with his hands himself.

He looks at the prince and princess again, chewing more slowly, now. He can't for the life of him remember where Coralie is in the order of oldest to youngest among her sisters. Third born? Fourth? She's definitely not the oldest. Javi narrows his eyes. Her hair is red, not vivid red like Prince Telitheu's stripes but more of a deep auburn, coiled into a complicated braid on top of her head with a few waves falling artfully into her face. The cream of her gown is soft and rich against her dark skin. She looks like she might be younger than Javi, even, but she has a hardness about her face that makes him think she might be accustomed to being written off due to being young. 

He's not close enough to talk to her, but he can see her shooting curious glances at him every now and then, like she'd have said something to him by now if doing so wouldn't have involved calling to him across the table. She's been keeping up a conversation with the prince ever since they had all been seated, talking in low tones, but they can't be discussing anything serious because Prince Telitheu's face is relaxed and open, and at one point Javi thinks he hears something about coral reefs. 

The courses keep coming. Javi tucks in to a savory, fragrant cut of veal. He finds himself talking to an owlish man on his right who asks him about where he is from, and he's halfway into the story of how he first arrived to Nerivah by sneaking into a fruit merchant's wagon and narrowly avoiding the detection of the guards when he notices it.

He turns away from the courtier's shocked face — Javi doesn't know why he's shocked, he hasn't even gotten to the good part yet — to look back at Prince Telitheu. 

His face is pinched, like he's having trouble breathing or like he’s getting a headache, and his body is hunched forwards in a slouch. It seems like he keeps fidgeting his legs under the table, too, even banging his knee against its underside in his distraction as Javi watches. He apologizes gracefully enough, and Princess Coralie waves off the moment of clumsiness, but the tension doesn't leave his body. In fact, it seems to get worse as the meal drags on, until his face is a drawn shadow of the expressive picture it was just a little while ago.

Javi frowns. He would guess that the prince was falling ill if his scales weren't bright and healthy still — not just healthy, even, he's positively glowing. More radiant than Javi has ever seen him, like there's sunlight shimmering under his skin. 

He's not the only one to have noticed the prince's behavior. There's a concerned murmuring going on among the courtiers next to him, and now that he's cognizant of it he realizes that it's been building gradually over the course of the last few minutes. Finally, one of the older courtiers — Ursa, Javi thinks — gets up and makes her way over to Prince Telitheu's seat, interrupting the conversation in order to whisper something urgently into his ear. Not in the Common Tongue, but in the sibilant language of the Meyluzeen, if the surrounding humans' bemused expressions are anything to go by. The prince looks as though he's going to argue at first, but then he swallows hard and stands up.

"Regretfully, I’ll have to take my leave early. I'm afraid I'm, ah, feeling under the weather all of a sudden. But I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, after I've rested!" 

Executing a distinguished bow — miraculously managing not to knock anything over with his sprawling back fins — he sweeps out of the dining room followed by Ursa and the two other courtiers who were sitting beside him.

Something's wrong. Javi immediately rises, intending to follow them, but Vizier Malia shoots him the most fearsome glare, so he sits down again. 

The rest of them have to stay here and finish out the meal. Okay. Sure. He can do that.  
   
—

Javi follows the rest of the court out of the dining room at a reasonable enough pace. As soon as he's out of sight of any of their would-be allies, though, he breaks into a dash, cursing under his breath all the while. 

He returns to their chambers short of breath and warm in the face. It had been difficult to keep up with the hurried strides of the larger Meylzueen even at a run. He’s one of the last to arrive when he makes it back.

The courtiers are gathered in the little courtyard at the center of the collection of guesthouses. Their buzzing murmur from earlier has increased in volume to an insistent, incessant droning. Javi has picked up a few words and phrases over the last few months, but it’s impossible for him to understand anything of what's being said with everyone talking over each other like this. The only word he can pick out — because it comes up again and again — is "heat". 

He frowns. Is the prince ill after all? Has he come down with a fever?

It's clear that they're all in a state of quiet yet frantic panic, even if Javi can’t understand their words. It’s the sort of contained stress that does nothing but expose how badly its participants want to come off as calm and in control. 

Of course, nobody pays attention to him when he arrives. He pushes past to the heart of the hubbub where Vizier Malia is standing. She's gesturing to the others in a way that seems purposeful, like she might have a plan.

"Where's the prince?" he asks, bristling when she waves him off dismissively. He repeats his question, but still doesn't get an answer. Seething with impatience, for a while he stands at her elbow like a boy waiting to query his schoolmaster, but he soon gets sick of that. He's about to set off and look for the prince himself when Ursa appears, her bell and tentacles pulsing in agitation. 

The crowd parts for her. Javi goes to ask her the same thing, since she was with the prince last, but she makes a beeline straight for Malia. This time, Javi hears the word "human" and Malia's eyes widen in surprise before finally, _finally_ turning to him. 

Everyone else in earshot of Ursa is staring at him, too.

"What?" Javi asks, aggravated. 

“Come on," she says, sounding as unimpressed as she always does when she addresses him. "You’ve been summoned.” 

She pulls him into walking with her, the strength of her grip indicating that there’s no room for argument.  
   
—

Javi’s handed a drought before he leaves the guesthouses to head to the beach. Antidote, for the poison at the tips of the prince's spines, just in case. Javi grabs it with a muttered "thank you", not sparing another glance at the courtier who'd handed it to him in his hurry. It doesn't take him long to get from the guesthouse gardens to the coast, but he speeds up into a brisk walk anyway, gulping the murky liquid down while it's still smoking. 

Prince Telitheu had asked for him. 

It's only when the guesthouses have faded into the distance that it occurs to him that maybe he should have asked for more specific directions to where the prince is. He stops at the edge of the sea, the waves lapping at his feet. The moon, high in the sky, emanates a soft glow that reflects off of the undulating water in an ever-shifting interplay of light and shadow. Javi hesitates, takes a right, and stumbles on the cave tucked among the rocks purely by chance.

Prince Telitheu was experiencing what Ursa had referred to, in hushed tones, as his first spawn. 

When Javi had heard, a laugh of disbelief had escaped him before he could stop it, but the dead silence from everyone else confirmed that Ursa was being serious. 

"First spawn." It sounded like a problem an adolescent would have. Ursa had let out an offended noise when he'd voiced his thoughts, but he'd at least been able to glean that the prince was somewhat of a late bloomer, that this happening _now_ was unexpected. They never would have come here at such a time otherwise. 

The timing is indeed particularly terrible. If the prince had another audience with Princess Coralie or any of her advisers in this state, it would be beyond humiliating, Vizier Malia explained, while excusing himself from the mission before they had even begun discussing what they had come here to talk about could be taken as a slight. But as long as he can get it out of his system, it should be all right. 

And he had asked for Javi. 

Javi's heart rate picks up as he approaches the cave, drumming a staccato beat against his ribcage. He'd thought about it before. Many times, at first, when he was still getting used to being away from home, away from other humans. The prince has a pretty face, even more beautiful because of how otherworldy he looks, and his form is all height and power and sharp edges that make Javi wonder what it would take to bring him to his knees.

Apparently the trappings of his biology were enough. 

Javi had come to the Meyluzeen a pearl diver. After a slew of failed thievings, he'd taken to diving off the coast of Nerivah, but the pickings were slim. After hearing rumors that the Mireni islands were once a particularly good spot for the treasures, he'd set off. 

Prince Telitheu's presence among the group of Meyluzeen Javi had run into was the main reason he was still breathing. If it weren't for the prince's interferance, he would have been killed on sight on the floor of the Mireni Sea. Prince Telitheu had also come up with the idea to seek Javi's advice about human society. He'd been presented with the option to leave, of course. But back then he hadn't trusted this terrifying species more than he could throw them. He hadn't expected them to truly let him leave, and so he'd decided to bide his time. He stayed. And stayed. Long enough to appreciate the relatively easy life he had among the islands — even if he _was_ isolated from other humans — and long enough to become invested in Prince Telitheu's success. He didn't know what would become of him after this — the prince surely wouldn't require his services any more after forging an alliance with the royals — but he slowly began to realize that he couldn't really imagine life without Prince Telitheu. Not anymore. 

Idle, lust-filled daydreams about the prince had taken on a more confusing quality after that. 

He picks his way across the sand, trying to recall everything Vizier Malia had told him about what happens when their people need to spawn. The knowledge has all evaporated from his mind, like designs in the sand washed away by the tides. It hadn't helped that the Vizier's explanations were filled with complicated biological terms he wasn't familiar with. His eyes had glazed over mere minutes into it. 

Well. No matter. He'd know what to do once he found the prince, hopefully. Winging it and hoping for the best had been his approach to all his dealings with the Meyluzeen so far, after all, and it hadn't steered him wrong yet. 

The cave is shallow. More a concavity in the cliffside than a true tunnel. It's lit up by starlight, but Javi has a feeling he'd be able to find the prince even in the dark. The rough, wracked breathing echoing through the space would have guided him to the right spot eventually.

Sure enough, the sounds lead him to the back of the cave. 

Javi doesn't notice Prince Telitheu at first. There's a bed of bubbles, thick and gleaming in the moonlight, taking up most of this corner. The prince is ensconced in the middle, a sunburst of reds and oranges against the white. He's writhing in what must be discomfort, curling in on himself one moment and tossing to one side the next like he's caught in a nightmare. 

Javi lets his empty goblet fall carelessly to the ground. It clinks against the smooth, water-worn rock. 

At the noise, Prince Telitheu finally looks up.

"J-Javi! You actually came..." 

Javi swallows. Prince Telitheu's voice is raw and shaky, like he's screamed himself hoarse.

"Of course. D'you think I'd leave you like this?" 

Javi has to swallow again. Now that he's looking at the prince directly, Javi can see that he's not just writhing, he's subtly, rhythmically squeezing his legs together, like some of the girls Javi had been with when their kissing had started to get hotter, heavier.

He tears his gaze away. 

"What do you need me to do?" Javi asks, already pulling his shirt up over his head before the prince can answer. Of course, he has a vague idea thanks to his conversations with the courtiers before, but he wants to hear it from Prince Telitheu himself. 

"Javi... You don't have to do this if you don't want to." 

Javi drops his shirt alongside the goblet. It sounds as though it's painful for Prince Telitheu to speak. Javi can feel his gaze roving over his now naked chest, hungry, even as he gives Javi an out. 

Javi meets his eyes again. The knowledge that Prince Telitheu is openly lusting for him like this has set his skin alight as it is, but actually seeing the prince's smoldering expression — his ember-bright eyes trained on him, so different to his usual breezy, placid demeanor — takes Javi's breath away. 

"I can see that you're desperate, even when you're so graciously offering to send me away," Javi points out, his own voice rough. "You asked for me. You want me." 

Prince Telitheu closes his eyes and sighs. It's a long, amorous sigh, the frilled fins by his face fluttering.

"Yes." 

"I might've convinced your court that I've sworn loyalty to them, but _we_ both know I've only stayed this long because I wanted to." _And because of you_ , he doesn't say. "Do you think I would be here if I didn't want to be?"

"...No." 

"Then," Javi breathes, stepping closer to the nest of bubbles that the prince had created. "Tell me. Tell me what else you want." 

Prince Telitheu's eyes are lidding with desire. Now that he seems assured that he's not forcing his will on his attendant, nor that Javi is going to leave and abandon him to his frustrations, some of the strain seems to leave his body. He settles back indulgently against the layers of foam. 

"Come here," he says in what's almost a purr, spreading both arms out, beckoning Javi with a beautiful clawed hand. "Come to me. Touch me."

Javi hurriedly strips out of the rest of his garments as he traverses the space between them, kicking off his sandals, almost tripping when he shoves down his pants, clumsy in his eagerness. He climbs up beside the prince on the foam, half expecting his body to pass straight through it and hit the uncomfortable rock beneath, but instead he finds himself half buoyed up, half subsumed into the froth. 

Immediately, the prince grabs one of Javi's hands and presses it to his chest.

Javi gasps softly. His scales are smooth, slippery. Javi had always imagined he'd be cool to the touch, but right now he's hot, feverish. As Javi slides his hand down to Prince Telitheu's middle, caressing, he hears the prince laugh.

"If Malia were here, she would have scolded you for speaking that way in my presence." 

Javi feels himself flushing. Now that he thinks about it, it _had_ sounded like he'd been ordering around a member of the Meyluzeen royal house, hadn't it? Not that he really cares much about court protocol — not more than he has to, at least — but the prince is a different matter. 

"Sorry," he mutters, abashed. "If you disliked that--" 

"You know I don't," says the prince, and Javi notices the lilt in his voice. He's teasing. And he's taken hold of Javi's hand again, pushing it impatiently down his body. 

"Now come on. Here, touch me here, I feel so warm here..." 

His hand is between the prince's thighs. Javi chews on his lip. 

"How do you," Javi starts. None of the Meyluzeen he'd met so far wear clothes, not really. Just ornate pieces of jewelry and other finery that don't cover them up at all. In spite of that, Javi has never seen any sign of sexual organs — nothing that he could recognize, anyway. "How do you get yourself off?" 

The prince's desperate grip on Javi's hand doesn't falter, but his face fins twitch and flare in a way that Javi has since learned signifies embarrassment. Which he's a little amused by, considering the prince has just shoved Javi's hand into his crotch.

"Um," the prince says. "I usually... rub. Against something." 

Javi glances at the sharp tips of Prince Telitheu's hands. Ah. Understandable. 

Rubbing is as good a place to start as any. He moves his hand back and forth over the scales. They feel softer, here. As soon as he makes the motion, Prince Telitheu sinks deeper into the bubbles with a groan, canting his hips up for more. 

Javi lets out a groan of his own. It feels strange, pressing against smooth flesh instead of wrapping his fingers around a cock or stroking inside, but he's already getting hard just from doing this, thrusting abortively, ineffectively against the bubbles. They might support his body well enough, but don't offer much in the way of friction. 

"I want to kiss you," Javi murmurs, his face close to Prince Telitheu's cheek. From here Javi can see his gills, delicate slivers of membranes and spaces etched along his neck. "Can I?" 

" _Please_ , yes," the prince says, almost before Javi finishes asking, curling his hand into Javi's black locks and pulling him in, narrowly avoiding scratching his scalp with his claws.

So Meyluzeen kiss, then. Javi rushes to put his mouth on the prince's mouth, pressing their lips together. The prince's lips are thin, almost non-existent, and Javi pushes his tongue between them, accidentally nicking himself on the narrow razors of the prince's teeth. Prince Telitheu tastes like salty ocean spray and blood. 

The prince kisses back just as eagerly, fingers clenching in Javi's hair. If he's put off by Javi bleeding into his mouth, he doesn't show it. If anything, it seems to excite him even more — he pushes up more insistently against Javi's hand, makes satisfied trilling noises against Javi's mouth. 

Javi moves from the prince's lips to his throat, mouthing against the slick scales, swiping his tongue across his striating gills. Soaking up the prince’s sigh like it's nourishment. He appreciates, now, how much effort it must have taken for Prince Telitheu to hold himself back earlier. Now that Javi is actually in his arms, it's like a dam has broken. The prince can't seem to stop himself from trying to get Javi as close as possible, pulling Javi on top of him so their legs can tangle together, distractedly tracing up and down the skin of his back with his hands, his claws almost catching more than once. 

Javi finds himself growing more desperate, too, even though all they've done so far is kiss. He licks at the prince's skin again, his chest. It's as briny as his mouth but richer, somehow, deeper, with an intense edge that Javi can't help but chase. He grinds forwards, seeking friction against Prince Telitheu's stomach. He's close to losing control already, like there's something in the air, in his blood, spurring him on. 

With the prince's encouragement, Javi presses down on the place between his legs even harder, and all of a sudden his fingers give.

"What--" Javi blurts out. 

The cry that Prince Telitheu lets out is sharp and desperate. 

Javi wriggles his fingers. The phalanxes of two of them appear to be trapped by tightness, and when Javi looks down he sees the prince's flesh parting under his hand. He blinks. He's fairly sure the opening hadn't been there before. Now, though, there it is — a dot of orange lighter than the rest of him, punctuating his scales, clutching the tips of Javi's fingers.

" _Yes_ , there," Prince Telitheu begs, back arching prettily. He grabs Javi's wrist in a pincer-like grip, urging him deeper. 

Javi lets himself get guided forwards, watching intently as his digits disappear into the tiny hole that stretches, slowly, surely, to accommodate him. His dick twitches in interest. The prince is warm, so warm here compared to the rest of his body, like all the feverish heat over his skin has concentrated in one place, humid and oppressive. 

"More, hurry," the prince pants, scrabbling at Javi's arms.

Javi opens him up. Reaching further, he thinks he feels something like fronds that flicker the more he pumps his fingers in and out, sliding smooth and easy. Prince Telitheu is drenched, and only gets wetter around Javi the more he moves, Javi is relieved to note. So their species have that in common, too. 

The prince tires of this quickly. His gaze continues to rove over Javi's body as Javi touches him, followed closely by his hands, which he runs down Javi's chest and middle, stopping at his dick.

"This," he croons. "Give me this." 

Javi takes a steadying breath and sits up. He's almost dizzy with how much he wants to do just that. Every cell in his body is screaming at him to just fuck his prince already, but he forces himself to go slow, not wanting to hurt. It's unspeakably difficult. It's not just the urgency of Javi finally getting to be intimate with his prince in a way that he's wanted to for months. It's more than that. Javi feels caught up in the same fog of arousal as Prince Telitheu, despite knowing that he's incapable of going into heat as a human. 

The prince's hole feels so small. Javi wonders if he can even fit anything else here aside from two of his fingers, but the prince is clenching wetly around him, moaning like this is the sensation he's been looking for, so Javi has to at least  _try_  to take this further.

Prince Telitheu's breath catches when the head of Javi's dick finally pops in, his thick, strong thighs coming up to squeeze with almost crushing force around Javi's waist. Javi is pulled forwards, sinking inside in a single motion.

So much for going slow. 

He sets a punishing pace. It barely seems to be enough, the prince squirming and clenching around Javi's cock every time he's impaled. Javi withdraws long enough to nudge the prince so he'll turn onto his side, gets him to push one knee up to his chest, and then thrusts in again, hard, making the prince cry out. 

Javi doesn't take his eyes off the blissed out expression on Prince Telitheu's face. He's already so close, but the prince is closer, and he shudders to completion after only a few thrusts, weak and pliant under Javi's body. 

Javi comes immediately after, pathetically quickly. 

He pulls back, collapses into a panting mess on the bubbles at Telitheu's feet. When he glances up, he sees that Telitheu's knee is still pushed up, exposing his entrance, folds and frills of warm peach streaked with white. 

The sight of it almost makes Javi get hard again.

"Please, call me Telitheu," the prince says, as he straightens his long legs and looks at Javi over his shoulder.

"Uh?" 

"Yelling out 'Your Highness' is a little impersonal, don't you think?" he smiles, and Javi colors. That's right, he had yelled, but he'd been so far gone he had barely noticed. 

"Alright. If that's what you prefer."

"It is what I prefer." 

The prince — Telitheu — is crawling towards him now, eyeing him with the same desire as before. But, wait, hadn't he--

"You didn't finish?"

"I did, but just the once," Telitheu says, eyes falling on Javi's cock. He seems disappointed to find it lying limp against Javi's stomach.

"You'll have to give me a minute," Javi says, weakly. 

Telitheu wakes him up at least four more times throughout the night, after that. The last time, Javi's so exhausted that he can't even get hard any more, he just lets the prince ride his hand to completion, helpfully crooking his fingers when he has the presence of mind to. The last time, sunlight is creeping across the walls of the cave, and it isn't more sex that Telitheu wants, but comfort. 

"It's time, I can feel it," he whispers, reaching for Javi's hand, which Javi squeezes in reassurance through his sleepy haze. He doesn't know what "it" is, but Telitheu's fearful tone spurs Javi to alertness, and he opens his eyes, turning on his side so he's facing the prince. 

"Need me to do anything?"

"No," Telitheu says, softly. "Just... stay here. Hold me." 

Javi does. It's when he catches sight of the first glimmer of color at the prince's entrance that he realizes what's going on. 

The prince is spawning eggs. They're small, bead-like, but there are multitudes of them, and they spill out into the bubbles in tightly gathered bunches. 

Javi does what he's asked and holds Telitheu in his arms, runs light touches over his stomach, presses kisses to his face. He doesn't look like he's in any pain, but his eyes are squeezed shut in discomfort. Javi can't imagine the strangeness of having to manage your body doing this for the first time. 

He's struck, again, by how vulnerable the prince is allowing himself to be in front of Javi, like this. 

The prince is shaking with exertion by the time he's finished. 

"It's ridiculous that I didn't anticipate this," Telitheu gasps, spent. Javi curls up against his side, trying to provide what comfort he can with his smaller body. It feels inadequate, but he flings an arm around the prince's waist anyway, hugging him close. 

"Mmmwhat makes you say that?" he asks, voice muffled where he's pillowed against Telitheu's chest. "Seems like everyone thought it was pretty out of the blue." 

"There were... signs," Telitheu says. "I'd been feeling strangely full all of the last fortnight." 

He regards the new clutch of eggs. Javi looks, too, at where they now sit securely among the bubbles. Glinting gold partly obfuscated by foam. 

"Those won't hatch, though, right," Javi asks, peering at them. 

Telitheu manages a weak laugh. 

"I shouldn't think so," he says. "You're human. I wasn't even sure that making love with you would satisfy my, uh, urges, but it was a gamble well taken." 

Javi feels his ears get warm at the words "making love", but he studiously ignores it. 

"Why did you ask for me, then?" he asks, avoiding Telitheu's gaze by nosing against his skin. 

"I trust you," Telitheu says, simply. He pushes Javi's messy hair away from his forehead, gently, turning Javi's face up so he'll look at him. 

"But I'm a human." With his cheeks squished between Telitheu's hand and his chest it comes out more like, _bup I'm a humam_.

"You're a human, and I trust you," Telitheu says again. "I wanted to do this with you. Even though I worried that it would be an... inconvenience for you. But, yes, I meant it when I said I envisioned a new world with humans and Meyluzeen standing by each other. You've been an invaluable advisor — no, companion all this time. Why should I let our differences divide us?"

This time, it's Javi that snorts a laugh. 

"How _diplomatic_ of you. Do you plan to bring _this_ up to the princess as well, then?" he says, gesturing down at their naked, sticky bodies. 

" _Gods_ , no! That would be marvelously indelicate." He shifts around under Javi's weight, then stands up. 

The sun has well and truly risen by now, and Javi groans when he notices it. 

"We're dining with the princess again this morning, and I feel like a wreck."

"Well, I feel quite refreshed," says the prince, and he looks it, too. He's standing near the mouth of the cave, his back fins fanning out wide and grand, his scales vibrant.

"And, thanks to you, I won't be embarrassing myself during the rest of this visit," he smiles. "Thank you again, Javi. I don't have the words to express how grateful I am."

"Y'r welcome." Javi flops bonelessly in the bubbles. Even without Telitheu waking him up, he hadn't been able to sleep very well. As unexpectedly comfortable as the nest of bubbles had been, it was still moist and clammy.

Even with all the discomfort, though, Javi would have agreed to do this again in a heartbeat. No question. 

"I'm glad that you're back to your usual self, but it's almost a shame that this is all over. It was kind of nice seeing you like that."

"Over?" Telitheu says, surprised. "Oh, no. Spawns last for at least a week at a time, for us. I'll be needing your services again come nightfall." He looks down at the cave's floor, like he was when they'd first started. "That is, if you're willing to do this for six more nights..."

Six more nights. Of this. Exhaustion, desperation, exquisite closeness. 

It's a foregone conclusion.

"I'll be ready," Javi says with a grin.

**Author's Note:**

> written for the following prompt: "Inexperienced Fishboy Prince Needing to Spawn for the First Time/Eager Male Attendant. The prince is on some kind of diplomatic mission when he goes into heat, and he needs someone to help him through it (so he won’t embarrass his family/kingdom), but the only one he trusts is his close advisor. Meanwhile, the advisor is honored that his gorgeous prince views him so highly. (Tags: Nosing Against Another Person's Skin, Trust Kink, Fucked Silly, Fucking a Cloaca)"
> 
> thanks for making such a fun prompt! i enjoyed writing this, and hope you enjoyed reading.


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